1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for determining indoor collection points and collecting heterogeneous infrastructure measurement information and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method in which a user terminal automatically generates collection points, from which wireless communication infrastructure measurement information is to be collected, in an indoor area by using information measured by sensors mounted inside and outside the terminal and indoor space information without requiring a user's input, and in which the user terminal collects heterogeneous infrastructure measurement information from the corresponding collection points.
2. Description of the Related Art
Global Positioning System (GPS)-based positioning technology is able to achieve location accuracy having an error margin of several m to several tens of m in any outdoor area across the earth by utilizing GPS satellites. Such GPS-based positioning technology can provide the location information of a user terminal equipped with a GPS receiver in a world coordinate system (for example, latitude, longitude, altitude, etc.). In the future, with the appearance of additional broadband satellite navigation systems, such as Galileo of Europe and Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) of Russia, it is predicted that location availability and accuracy will be improved in an outdoor space.
However, when the GPS-based positioning technology is used in an indoor area and a congested metropolitan area, weak signals may be received or multi-path errors may be increased due to an environment being enclosed by buildings. Due thereto, the determination of the location may be impossible, or location accuracy may be deteriorated. Further, a problem also arises in that a Time To First Fix (TTFF) caused by a decrease in the number of visible satellites is increased.
Mobile communication base station-based positioning technology enables such a TTFF to be shorter than that of GPS. However, base station cell-based location determination is disadvantageous in that it generally has location accuracy lower than that of the GPS even if it is influenced by the arrangement of a base station.
Meanwhile, Wi-Fi-based positioning technology can provide precise location information having an error margin of about several m using signal intensities received from Wi-Fi Access Points (APs) in an area in which GPS signals are not received, the indoor area of a large building having a high GPS location error, or a congested metropolitan area. Recently, a service available area has been extended to a great city area using Wardriving (or AP mapping) technology based on Skyhook Wireless of the United States. However, Wardriving (or AP mapping) technology using vehicles is problematic in that high cost is required to initially construct the location database (DB) of Wi-Fi APs. Further, since collection is mainly performed in an outdoor area, collection points are implemented using GPS location information. Due thereto, there is a problem in that in an indoor area where it is difficult to receive GPS signals, it is impossible to obtain collection points.
For technology for obtaining collection points in the indoor area, a scheme for directly selecting collection points or areas (a room, a passage, the surrounding area of interest, etc.) indicated on an indoor map, and a scheme for allowing a user to enter text have been used. As an example thereof, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2011-0051571 (entitled “Collection apparatus and method of generating expected collection points thereof”) is configured such that in a wireless Local Area Network (LAN)-based indoor positioning system, the convenience of collecting the measurement information of wireless Access Points (APs) from more accurate collection points can be promoted. For this, the technology in Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2011-0051571 selects an indoor map corresponding to the geographical information of an indoor area desired to be investigated, sets an expected collection point in consideration of the location accuracy of a required terminal, inputs the expected collection point to the indoor map, scans APs based on the expected collection point, and transmits the measurement information of acquired APs to a location server. According to Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2011-0051571, there is the inconvenience of causing a user to personally input an expected collection point. Further, there is a problem in that the user must previously understand the spatial distribution of a collection target area using the indoor map, and the expected collection point is arbitrarily determined depending on the opinion of the user. Furthermore, since the expected collection point is subjectively and arbitrarily determined by a collector (the user), an error in the determination of a collection point increases. Together with this, such technologies cause inconvenience because the user must continuously input collection areas, and increase the collection time. In other words, the conventional scheme was a passive scheme in which the collector personally selected an expected collection point and collected measurement information. As a result, with an increase in the collection time required by the collector, an increase in cost is caused.